Manhattan judge’s ruling could put de Blasio, ex-NYPD commissioner on witness stand over Eric Garner’s death
The mother of NYPD chokehold victim Eric Garner hailed a Manhattan judge’s ruling that could potentially force Mayor de Blasio and ex-NYPD Commissioner James O’Neill to testify about her son’s 2014 death.
“It has been more than six long years since the NYPD killed my son, and six long years of cover-ups and excuses from Mayor de Blasio and his entire administration,” said Garner’s mother Gwen Carr in in a statement Friday — one day after state Supreme Court Justice Joan Madden’s ruling.
“Today is an important sign of hope that their misdeeds will not stay in the dark. The world will know what they did to my son and my family.”
Madden’s decision, issued Thursday night, granted a public judicial inquiry into the death that launched the Black Lives Matter movement after Garner, 43, was killed during an arrest for selling untaxed loose cigarettes on Staten Island.
The city had moved for a dismissal of the petition filed by Carr and others. Officer Joseph Pantaleo, who applied the hold but was never criminally charged in the fatal encounter, became the only officer to lose his job over the fatal incident. An NYPD sergeant at the scene was docked 20 vacation days for failure to supervise the officers on the scene.
A video captured Garner declaring “I can’t breathe” just before his death, with his words becoming a rallying cry that endures to this day.
“Certainly, the death of an unarmed man during a police arrest raises questions of both the effectiveness and integrity of city government with regard to which the mayor has responsibilities,” wrote Madden.
“A summary inquiry into violations and neglect of duties in connection with the stop and arrest of Mr. Garner and the force used by police officers other than Officer Pantaleo in connection with the arrest is granted.”
Alvin Bragg and Gideon Oliver, co-counsels for the petitioners, hailed the decision.
“For years, the city and the NYPD have made every effort to avoid public scrutiny around the NYPD killing of Eric Garner and their insufficient investigations and other responses,” they said in a statement. "
A request for comment to the city Law Department was not returned Friday.
Another hearing was scheduled for next month on the petition filed in August 2019 by Carr and others seeking the inquiry, with both sides appearing before Madden last month to make their arguments in this case.
“Now we have a chance to finally show that the mayor has allowed the police department to get away with murder — and the related cover-up,” said Carr. “I hope New Yorkers join me in my ongoing demand for the immediate firing of all the officers who engaged in misconduct related to my son’s murder.”
